Erin Smith
Astoria, NY, United States
Erin Smith was diagnosed with celiac disease in the early 1980s, so she’s been eating gluten-free almost her entire life. Erin has a unique perspective of growing up in the gluten-free community and blogs about living — and enjoying — a gluten-free lifestyle.
Erin Smith has been writing her gluten-free lifestyle blog Gluten-Free Fun since 2007. In 2011, she launched Gluten-Free Globetrotter, a website that encourages those with celiac disease to travel the world and not be scared about eating gluten-free domestically and abroad. Erin is also the lead organizer of the NYC Celiac Disease Meetup group, a social community that has grown to over 1850 members in the 8 years she has been organizing the group.
http://glutenfreefun.blogspot.com
http://glutenfreeglobetrotter.comSee my complete profile

Of course a website called #RapShirtsforWhitePeople would have shirts that mock the gluten-free diet. It's almost a trend in itself these days to mock the gluten-free diet. Nevertheless, I actually thought some of these were quite clever. I apologize in advance for those who are easily offended by foul language. Here are my favorites:

I am beyond flattered to be included in the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness "Celiac Awareness Month Heroes: Meet Gluten-Free Bloggers" campaign. As you know from reading my blog, I am a big supporter of the NFCA. I think they are doing a wonderful job advocating for the Celiac community and providing much needed resources to the world.

Not only am I excited to be personally honored in this campaign, but I am also thrilled to be in such wonderful company. I have made many friends in the Celiac community since I launched this blog in 2007. To be included in a list of bloggers that I read regularly and admire is a great honor. I am also happy to learn about so many new-to-me gluten-free bloggers that I plan to connect with now that I know their blogs.

Some of my favorite gluten-free bloggers and people I am proud to call my friends include:

It's the last week of Celiac Awareness Month and I've posted a lot less than usual this month. Today, I would like to let a little secret out of the bag. While I have been quiet on my blog, I have been secretly tweeting and retweeting as @PositiveCeliac all month long.

Back in the beginning of April, I emailed Taylor of Gluten Away after seeing some of his positive tweets to the gluten-free community. At the time of my email, I felt really down about our Celiac world. Taylor was one of the few people keeping his chin up and trying to encourage the community instead of complaining like many others were doing via social media. I thought we needed more of this in our world and Taylor was a great person to connect with via social media.

Note: If you don't know Taylor, meet him by reading his blog. He is a teenager who continues to blow me away with his social media presence and amazing maturity at such a young age!

Taylor and I sent a few brainstorming emails back and forth about ways to promote positivity in our community. We both shared the idea of spreading the message of celiac hope and words of encouragement via Twitter. He convinced me that #celiacpositivity was a bit long and suddenly #positiveceliac was born.

I wasn't feeling great at the end of April so I couldn't move forward with exactly what I had hoped to do during May's Celiac Awareness Month. Behind the scenes, I knew I still wanted to do something and Twitter seemed like the easiest thing to do. On April 30th, the eve of Celiac Awareness Month, @positiveceliac was launched and the rest is history.

It has been a really exciting social media experiment to see #PositiveCeliac grow organically this month. Taylor and many other bloggers have embraced this hashtag and have run with it amazingly. I've read stories of hope, inspiration, and healing. I've seen that the community is not full of haters, bullies, and complainers. I've been reminded that there are people doing good with their celiac diagnosis and not claiming to be unloved social outcasts to anyone who will listen. There are people that have embraced their celiac diagnosis wholeheartedly instead of throwing a pity party. They are celebrating their new and healthy gluten-free lives while living with a disease that is treated with food! My hope for the future of the gluten-free and celiac community is slowly being restored.

It's been therapeutic and fun to be behind this Twitter handle during Celiac Awareness Month. I plan to keep on tweeting and retweeting your messages of living your most #PositiveCeliac life. Keep them coming. This campaign will continue throughout the year. A special thanks to Taylor who has been keeping the #PositiveCeliac trend alive all month long! I couldn't have done this without him.

I saw this infographic on the NewHope360.com website yesterday. It was put together by Gluten Intolerance Group, Find Me Gluten-Free, and Delicious Living. I think it gives some interesting insight into the gluten-free consumer, although not necessarily the Celiac consumer. As us living with Celiac know, they are often two very different kinds of consumers. What do you think?

Marathon runners are awe-inspiring. As someone who hates running, I give anyone running any distance major kudos. Those who run marathons just astonish me. 26.2 miles is FAR! I've ridden my bike that far but I cannot imagine running for hours upon hours and mile after mile.

I am happy to announce a 2014 Team Gluten-Free for the TCS New York City Marathon. Team Gluten-Free has had strong representation in fundraising races across the globe and now is your chance to join them! The Celiac Disease Foundation has 5 bibs available for runners interested in participating in this year's marathon. In order to join the team, you need to commit to raising $3,500 for Team Gluten-Free.

The premier event of New York Road Runners, the TCS New York City Marathon is one of the world’s great road races, drawing more than 100,000 applicants annually.

The race attracts many world-class professional athletes, not only for the more than $600,000 in prize money, but also for the chance to excel in the media capital of the world before two million cheering spectators and 315 million worldwide television viewers. As any one of the more than 700,000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime.

Join Team Gluten-Free at the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon

We have FIVE Charity Bibs available for the TCS NYC Marathon. If you are qualified for this premiere road race, ONE of these bibs may have your name on it.
It’s as easy as 1 – 2 – 3!

Commit to raise a minimum of $3,500 for Team Gluten-Free

Claim your bib and register for the TCS NYC Marathon as an invited member of Celiac Disease Foundation Team Gluten-Free

START FUNDRAISING – we help you set up your own fundraising page

Runners also receive training and fundraising tips and schedules. The money raised by Team Gluten-Free participants funds Celiac Disease Foundation’s education, advocacy and research programs. Team Gluten-Free is Celiac Disease Foundation’s community-based fundraising program for athletes and non-athletes alike.

To claim your bib, email us at tgf@celiac.org by Friday, May 23, 2014.

Thank you New York Mets for retweeting my post about Celiac Awareness Day. As a social media nerd, I get really excited about things like this RT. Now, I would be even happier if you attended the game on Monday, May 26th at 1pm. Who is going??

1 in 100 Americans have Celiac, but 95% don't know they have the disease. Join the Mets on May 26 as we raise awareness while benefitting the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. R.O.C.K. Long Island, who offer free support to parents, families and friends of kids on the gluten-free diet for any reason, will be on hand to provide important information on this often undetected illness.

I've been really quiet this month which is kind of ironic considering it is Celiac Awareness Month. More on my silence later. In the meantime, share this post with everyone. It is actually a decent explanation of gluten and the immune response we experience as people living with Celiac Disease.